The next day in the morning, after breakfast, Amanda left for the company with her lover and Daisy had to go home to change as well as attend to her son and dog before taking her to the veterinary.
On her way there, she decided to stop at the company and see what was going on because at the latest she has been away from the company due to certain things that came up.
When Amanda saw them walking into the company, she was surprised and eyed Daisy quizzically but the latter smiled, ignoring her friends' chiding glare to see the workers. She greeted everyone and enjoyed a moment touring the same grounds as though reassuring herself of all she has worked for over the years to secure.
"What are you doing here?!" Amanda came behind her, almost startling Daisy who took in steady breath and faced her friend with a biting smile.
"Can't I stop by again to see how things are going here?"
"No, not today. You are supposed to take Ella to the hospital with Daniel."
"Well, I brought him here maybe to convince you keep and_"
"C'mon, Babes, don't be like that," Amanda reprimanded her, having caught up with her sly act. "You can't keep him away from the outside forever. Just because his father is back doesn't mean he should suffer for it. I know that's why you are doing this."
"I'm not..." She lied through her teeth.
"Then take him."
"You know how he gets outside. I don't have the strength of barreling hard around the yard trying to control both of them, please." She gave Amanda poppy eyes and the latter shook her head, placing her right hand on her forehead.
"Just stop being dramatic, Daisy. You take Daniel and Ella almost everywhere, today won't be any different," She rolled her eyes. "It's because of Ethan."
Knowing that there was no way she was going to win against her friend today, Daisy exhaled and sagged her head. "Fine, then I better get going. I just rh__"
"Please, take Ella quickly, her muzzle has been drooling on the floor showing she might have caught something."
"Okay..." Daisy bounced out of the room towards her son who was squatting over a launching Ella, brushing her furs softly. He perked up when he saw his mother and ran to take her hand, "mom, can we go now? Ella is really sick!"
"Yeah, here, Ella, don't be sick..." She sang as she brushed through the beast's furs as they walked out. Amanda's lover waved at her and in return, Daisy gave her a slight smile so as not to appear rude. She might have promised to be cool with her, still, it was a slow process.
"Is she going to be alright?" Daniel asked her.
"Of course, Danny. Every living thing falls sick once in a while, that doesn't mean it will die."She dropped Ella at the back of the car and Daniel jumped in after her.
When they got to the veterinary, she came around to bring her out and as she turned, an attendant came to take Ella from her and kissed his head, repeatedly purring to him. "I will take him inside," She said to Daisy who nodded, and before she would choose the door and twist around, her son was sprinting across the yard after the nurse.
She inhaled deeply and locked the car doors and ventured after them. She was equally worried about Ella. It's all her fault that their dog is sick. If she hadn't missed his veterinary check-up at the start of the week, they would have avoided this.
She looked around, looking for Victoria the veterinary nurse she was familiar with, if Victoria was here she would make everything easier.
“Ms Daisy..” She heard a familiar voice call, she looked up to see Victoria walking towards them, a warm smile on her face.
Daniel's eyes lit up, immediately he saw her,
"Victoria!" He squealed happily as he dropped his toy and ran to her, throwing his arms around her legs in a tight hug.
Victoria laughed as she handed him the juice bottle with her.
"Hey there… little man!” She said as she bent low to look at him well.
“I brought your favorite juice." Daniel eagerly took the bottle his eyes shining with happiness as he began to drink.
As Daniel hugged her, Victoria looked up, her eyes meeting Daisy, who smiled weakly at her.
Victoria smiled in return as she gently pried Daniel loose from her leg, "Okay, buddy, let Mommy talk to me for a minute." She said, smiling.
Daniel nodded, still clutching his juice bottle, and Victoria turned to Daisy, smiling.
"So, tell me, what's been going on with Ella? What symptoms have you noticed?" she asked, her voice gentle and concerned.
Daisy took a deep breath, as she looked towards the room they had taken Ella.
"Ella's been a little... swollen, and I'm worried. I don't know what's wrong with her." She said, her voice shaking.
Victoria's smile faded, a sympathetic look on her face. "I see. When was Ella's last treatment?" she asked, as her pen jotted down on her notepad.
Daisy looked away.
"I bring her to the vet every week for a check-up... but I forgot this week. I was so busy with work and taking care of Daniel..." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Don't worry. We'll get Ella checked out and figure out what's going on. Can you tell me more about the swelling? Where is it, and when did you first notice it?" Victoria said as she nodded understandingly.
Daisy took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "It's her paws... and belly. I noticed it yesterday evening. I thought maybe she just hurt herself, but... but it looks worse today." She said.
Victoria nodded, as she jotted down everything Daisy said.
"Okay, let's get Ella in for an examination. I'll go ahead and prepare the exam room." She said, her voice gentle.
Just then a loud noise interrupted them, a loud voice rang out from a nearby vet office.
It sounded like two people were arguing.
Daisy could recognize one of the voices, it belonged to Dr, smith, the head veterinarian doctor.
The other voice wasn’t familiar but she assumed it belonged to a pet owner.
“It is nothing serious sir, it’s just a case of neglection if you actually cared about your cat so much then you would have known.” She heard Dr smith shout, his voice booming through the hallway.
“Neglect?! I take care of my cat more than your mother ever took care of you! Maybe it’s your mother’s neglect that made you look like you do!” She heard the pet owner shout back.
She slowly placed her hands around Daniel’s ears, the little boy looked up at her, his eyes wide with worry as he clung to her leg.
Victoria quickly walked towards Daniel.
“Do you want to watch as Ella gets examined?” She asked smiling.
The boy nodded smiling toothlessly.
Victoria gently grabbed his arm, ushering him into the exam room, trying to shield him from the argument.
“Say bye to mummy..” She said.
Daniel turned around, waving to her as Victoria slowly closed the door behind them.
Daisy picked up a magazine by her side, trying to go through it as the argument seemed to escalate, the noise echoing through the hallway, making it hard for her to focus.
A minute later, Nurse Victoria returned alone, smiling reassuringly at Daisy as she walked towards the office where the argument was coming from.
“I'll be right back. I just need to... um... help resolve a situation," she said, as she hurried towards doctor smith’s office.
As she hurried off, the shouting between Dr. Smith and the pet owner grew louder, their voices raised in anger.
An orange cat ran out of the office, jumping into Daisy’s hands and nuzzled against her hand while whining softly.
Daisy stroked the cat’s fur, trying to comfort her, she was a little surprised that the cat decided to jump into her lap out of every other person there:
“Luna! Luna!” She heard the pet owner shout from the doctor’s office.
She looked down at the cat, her name must be Luna.
She looked like a gentle relaxed cat, a contrast to whoever her owner was.
As Victoria neared the office door, the door suddenly opened and the pet owner, a tall, and lean man, burst out of the room, his face red with anger. He slammed the door behind him, making Daisy and Luna jump.
The man's eyes was with anger as he glared at Victoria.
"You people are unbelievable!" he spat. "You call yourselves professionals but can’t even treat a poor cat!”
Victoria stood her ground, squaring up to the man.
"I understand you're upset, sir. But please, let's try to find a solution that works for you and your pet."
The man smirked.
"Solution? You call ignoring my cat and telling me nothing is wrong with her a solution? She’s shedding her fur! How can you say nothing is wrong!”
Dr. Smith's voice came from inside the room, interrupting the man. "That's enough, Mr. Nolan. We've done everything we can to help your cat."
Daisy’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at the tall man, his long blonde hair packed in a pony tail.
She stared at him in disbelief.
It was him - the same rude and disrespectful guy she had met at the bar, who had left a drunk woman in the bar all alone without even trying to call her family members. And to make matters worse, he was the same person who had hit her with his car the other day!
What was he doing here? And did she keep running into him?